Dear Times-Delphic Editors and the Student Body,
At Drake University, students have great ideas to improve our campus, our city, and even our state. But turning those ideas into real policy can feel out of reach. That’s where we come in.
“For campus, for city, for state.”
What does this mean? Well, at Drake Policy Institute, it’s our motto. For our organization, it means helping students of all majors and of all party affiliations to brainstorm, write and implement meaningful policies for the Drake campus, the city of Des Moines and the state of Iowa.
On the Drake campus this semester, we worked to create policies that would make the Student Senate more transparent to the student body. We were able to partner with Student Senate co-advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Life Jerry Parker and the Senate to implement a policy where a public agenda will be posted on the Student Senate’s Instagram, @drakesenate, before their meeting. This policy allows students to see exactly what is going to be debated before meetings, so they can show up and make their voices heard. Our next step is helping students learn that anyone can attend Senate meetings and speak during the open comment period; your voice genuinely can shape campus policy.
Moving beyond campus, for the city of Des Moines, one of the policy ideas we are currently workshoping is implementing a warning label on all homeopathic remedies and medicines. Implementing this warning label is important because these medicinal treatments do not have scientific backing. Homeopathy is a pseudoscientific concept where water and other substances can hold “memory” of a selected substance. Some of these homeopathic medicines are so diluted that they do not include an atom of a substance other than water and/or sugar in a treatment. Placing these remedies promising a cure in the medicinal section of pharmacies and other stores without informing individuals of their lack of scientific proof puts sick individuals at risk.
At the state level in the spring of 2025, we wrote our Itemized Medical Bill Policy, which would require Iowa healthcare providers to automatically issue itemized bills, helping people spot errors and understand exactly what they’re being charged for. This semester, we are working to get this policy proposed and into the House of Representatives for consideration in the 2026 Iowa Legislative Session.
Looking forward, we are developing a Buffer Strip Policy, which would require grass, prairie or forest buffers along streams and rivers to filter runoff before it enters the waterways. Cleaner water means a healthier environment for everyone, from Drake students who enjoy the outdoors to families across the state who depend on clean drinking water.
Creating real policies takes teamwork, creativity and student voices, which is why the Drake Policy Institute wants your help! If you have policy ideas pertaining to Drake’s campus, the city of Des Moines, or the state of Iowa, we would love to hear them.
You can reach us by scanning the QR code on one of the many flyers on campus, emailing us at [email protected] or, better yet, finding our meeting times on Instagram @drakepolicyinstitute and telling us in person!
Sincerely,
Allyna Timm, Aidan Keefe, Isaiah Mitchell
Executive Board Members of the Drake Policy Institute
“For campus, for city, for state.”
